1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to medical kits for performing emergency procedures, and, more particularly, to a combined Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) apparatus and a method for performing an emergency procedure to treat sudden cardiac arrest using the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many lives are lost due to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) every year. In fact, SCA is a leading cause of death in the United States. Such deaths can be prevented if effective emergency rescue procedures such as Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation are administered within 3-5 minutes of the onset of the SCA. To perform the emergency rescue procedures in such a short time, a skilled and trained person (e.g., a paramedic) is required. Typically, starting a CPR procedure in the case of a SCA, includes having an attending person, who is attending to the patient, run to a phone and dial an emergency number (e.g., 911). Then, the attending person must start administering the CPR procedure by positioning the patient on their back, tilting the head of the patient back and putting their chin up to keep his/her airway (e.g., a passageway by which air passes from the nose or mouth to the lungs) clear. The attending person should check for breathing or a pulse, and if none found, then the attending person gives two very strong breaths to the patient (mouth-to-mouth). Furthermore, the attending person must locate the position of the heart, and give thirty strong compressions downward (approximately 2 inches in depth) into the patient's chest. The sequences must be repeated until further help (e.g., emergency technician) arrives.
If an AED is available, the person attending to the victim, will have to also in addition to the above, have to remove all upper garments of the patient apply the electrode pads on the patients bare chest and follow the recorded voice instructions. An AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses potentially life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia in a patient. The AED is used to treat the patient through defibrillation, the application of electrical therapy which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to reestablish an effective rhythm. Some AEDs may use an electronic voice to prompt users through each step. Because the user of an AED may be hearing impaired, AEDs may include visual prompts as well. However, a user who is inexperienced in performing the procedure may not be able to keep up with the pre-programmed or stored robotic electronic voice and understand the instructions clearly, particularly under a stressful situation such as administering emergency care to a person undergoing a SCA. For example when CPR is required, the conventional AED units only prompt the user to start CPR without further guidance.
Too many lives are lost to cardiac arrest every year, because the appropriate medical response was simply not available in time. There is a mere 5% current survival rate of SCAs, and less than 1% of SCA victims survive without permanent brain damage after suffering 4-6 minutes of a SCA. However, the average time for paramedics to arrive at the scene of the SCA is approximately 8 minutes, when chances of survival would have already dropped drastically. Research has indicated a 50-74% survival rate when CPR and AED are performed within 3-5 minutes of the SCA, where there is a mere 5% chance of survival when only CPR is performed; and a 20% chance of survival when only AED is performed. The chances of survival drop 10% every 60 seconds since the onset of SCA.
Moreover, approximately 84% of SCAs occur at home where there are no trained medical professionals. The risk of coronary heart disease increases with age, therefore the elderly are at highest risk. The elderly may be typically living alone or with only their spouse. Thus typically, when an SCA occurs, a family member or spouse may be the only one available in proximity of the patient. Current solutions require the family member, in the case of a SCA to a loved one at home, to run and call an emergency number, and then run to get a home defibrillator (if available), and then back to the patient. Then, they require the family member to take the victim's upper garments completely off before even starting the procedures to save the patient.
Furthermore, when CPR to the victim is needed, a conventional emergency machine may only prompt a user to start CPR, thus assuming that the user will remember all the steps, and have the stamina to give strong breaths and chest compressions as well as setting up the AED machine flawlessly. Finally, all this would have to be done within the first 5 minutes of the SCA. Therefore, the conventional solutions are not generally designed for an average person to use, let alone the elderly. Rather, the conventional solutions are typically designed for fast acting, young and recently CPR trained individuals. Furthermore, the conventional solutions generally only cater to either CPR or AED individually. Accordingly, there is a need for a combined CPR and AED apparatus that can be easily used in case of emergency by non-medical professionals within the first 3-5 minutes of the SCA.